A row of shops in Deal, Kent which was described by ministers as the "quintessential English seaside high street", has been named High Street of the Year.

The award was given by The Daily Telegraph as part of its “Reinventing the High Street” campaign. Joint runners-up were Leek in Staffordshire and Ramsbottom in Lancashire.

Throughout 2013, The Daily Telegraph and its readers have been debating the future of Britain’s 5,000 high streets as part of the campaign.

Telegraph readers were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite high street and more than 500 nominations were received.

Brandon Lewis, the Local Government minister who chaired the judging panel, said: “Without becoming either cheap and cheerful or twee and gentrified, Deal feels like the quintessential English seaside high street.

“There are arts and crafts shops which use local wood, a store selling local flowers, and a fishmongers offering the local catch: with Dover sole a speciality.

“Deal feels like the quintessential English seaside high street and with affordable and accessible parking, it’s easy as well as enjoyable to visit.”

Liz Hunt, Associate Editor, The Daily Telegraph, added that Deal was “a very good example for other struggling high streets of how an engaged local community, with support from local and national government, can match enthusiasm for their high street with good and innovative practice”.

The Telegraph also awarded the title of “High Street Champion of the Year”, to Alison Stammers, the volunteer chairman of the Town Team in Chislehurst, Kent.

Mary Portas, the Government’s high streets adviser, said Miss Stammers was “an example to us all” in the way she had managed to attracted customers to Chislehurst despite the attractions of the nearby Bluewater Shopping Centre.

She said: “What really inspired me in Alison is that she saw something needed to be done, but didn’t wait for others, or get put off when it became clear how much hard, complicated work it would be.”

Read Brandon Lewis’s tribute to Deal for winning The Daily Telegraph’s inaugural High Street of the Year award at www.telegraph.co.uk/reinventthehighstreet